Politics & Government

Newspapers' Legal Row Continues with Mt. Kisco Arrest

Publishers, already in court over alleged misappropriation, face a new matter.

Written by Tom Auchterlonie

An adversarial legal relationship between the publishers of local newspapers The Examiner and The Hudson Valley Reporter escalated early Friday morning with the arrest of a man who is accused of tampering with the former's distribution box in front of the Mt. Kisco Coach Diner on East Main Street.

Michael Espinoza, a 24-year-old Dobbs Ferry man, is alleged to have switched The Examiner's print material with its competitors in the box. Police said he was charged with criminal tampering, a misdemeanor, and harassment, which is a non-criminal violation. He is expected to appear in Mount Kisco Justice Court this coming Thursday.

The Examiner Publisher Adam Stone, who told Patch about the arrest, said that Espinoza was a distributor for The Hudson Valley Reporter. Stone also contends that there were other switching incidents or disruptions in multiple locations across Westchester and Putnam counties.

A private investigator, Matt DiBiase of Mahopac-based Colonial Investigative Associates, was retained on Stone's behalf. DiBiase did a stakeout starting around 2 a.m. on Friday, according to Stone, because it is a day when the other paper publishes. DiBiase, in a statement that Stone provided, added that around 5:50 a.m. he saw a male get out of a car that pulled up. DiBiase contends that the man, identified as Espinoza, made a switch of papers, including placing a copy of The Hudson Valley Reporter in the box's display area. He added that copies of The Examinerwere placed on a bench.

DiBiase, according to the statement, then claims that he talked with the man, Espinoza, initially telling him that he was interested in advertising before stating what his intention was. DiBiase claims that Espinoza said his boss, Faith Ann Butcher, told him to use the box. The investigator then claims that Espinoza said he switched papers from the box two times a week and that he had been working for his employer for three weeks.

Stone and Mount Kisco police were subsequently contacted, DiBiase stated, adding that an officer and Stone subsequently arrived.

Stone told Patch that he told Mount Kisco police that he wanted Butcher arrested.

Stone also sent an audio recording of the alleged matter that includes items brought up by DiBiase in his statement. In the audio, DiBiase asks about a sharing of paper's box. Espinoza replies that is “what my boss told me.” 

At one point in the audio recording, DiBiase states he is with The Examiner and that it's against the law to put papers in the box. Espinoza replies: “She said to do that.”

It is not clear, due to the sound quality, whether Espinoza explicitly mentions Butcher as being his boss. However, at another point DiBiase calls Stone to give a recap and mentions Butcher as condoning the action, based on his talk with Espinoza.

A link to a video of the alleged matter is posted on YouTube, which Stone shared. 

Butcher denies that there was wrongdoing.

When asked to comment, Butcher, in an email, wrote the following: "The incident in question was the result of miscommunication with a new distribution person. It was a mistake not an act of malice intent. Mr. Stone has greatly exaggerated the situation."

Butcher was then asked whether Espinoza was still employed with The Hudson Valley Reporter. She replied, "We are reviewing the situation."

Stone and Butcher have been in a legal standoff since July, when The Examiner's parent company, Examiner Media, LLC sued Butcher and her paper's company, All Media Publishing, LLC in state supreme court in White Plains. In the lawsuit, Examiner Media contends that advertising artwork that it previously published was used without permission from clients. It also claims that copies of its papers were taken from boxes and in turn replaced with copies of The Hudson Valley Reporter

Butcher, in an affidavit filed in August, denies that copies of her paper were ever placed in Examiner boxes. Butcher, along with her attorney, Raymond Cote, stated that ads appeared but only in the three issues. She also stated that ads were deleted from her computer and placed onto a compact disk.

Examiner Media was given a legal victory on Aug. 22 when Judge Mary Smith granted a request to block future publication of advertising artwork and barred the defendants from interference with the boxes, which are green.

Butcher's attorney argued that the requests for injunctions were moot because there had been no further publication of the advertisements and that there was no use of the boxes.

The case is still pending and the parties are schedule to make a court appearance on Oct. 21.

Butcher, who worked for Examiner Media from January 2011 to April 2013 and was its chief operating officer before she left, subsequently founded All Media Publishing and The Hudson Valley Reporter.


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